Rarest Golden Age Books

[G.A.tor]

I will chime in on the 5 rarest Centaurs (IMO, likely 5 or so known copies)

 

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

 

No way on the FP 1.6. I personally have owned 3 different copies. #s 40 and 41 are much scarcer.

 

 

 

I have never seen one for sale... have seen at least 2 #41's and 1 #40 and I know where several copies are, so from my perspective, it is tougher...though, I agree that the 40 and 41 are 100x more desirable (thumbs u

[RareHighGrade]

I will chime in on the 5 rarest Centaurs (IMO, likely 5 or so known copies)

 

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

Thanks Rick. Are you saying that you believe there are less than 5 copies of each of those issues in existence or just that you are personally aware of only 5?

 

Which of them do you have?

[jbcomicbox]

I'm curious to know what the posters on this board believe to be the 5 rarest Golden Age books by each publisher. For example, based on my experience, the Gerber Guide and the CGC census, I have concluded that the 5 rarest DC's are:

 

1. Double Action # 2

2. New Adventure # 13

3. New Adventure # 26

4. New Adventure # 27

5. New Fun Comics # 2

 

By the way, post them if you've got them.

 

RHG

It has been four years since I started this thread with the above post. I am dusting the thread off to see if information acquired over the last four years has affected any of the original opinions regarding what books are rarest for each publisher (ashcans or other books that were not actually sold don't qualify for this particular thread).

 

Interestingly, my opinions regarding the rarest DCs remain largely unchanged. At most, I might switch my choice for #5 with one of the following books, which didn't make my initial top 5:

 

New Comics 2 and 3

New Adventure Comics 22

New Fun Comics 6

Detective Comics 3

Big Book of Comics

 

What do the rest of you think? What are the 5 rarest Timelys, Nedors, Foxes, Qualitys, DCs, etc.?

 

And, of course, feel free to post them if you have them.

 

 

Of course as Yogi might say- The toughest ones are the ones you cannot find.....Jon

 

 

[RareHighGrade]

My collecting focus is obviously the same as yours RHG. Where would you rank More Fun 9? From what I have noticed it appears on the market less often than New Fun 2. Is it more rare or is demand just higher?

 

As for Fiction house I think its fair to say that Jumbo 3-7 are the 5 rarest in no particular order.

MF #9 is very rare and probably should have been included in my list of Honorable Mention alternates. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one person feels that it should be in the top 5.

 

As for Fiction House, I would agree with you based on my personal experience. Nos. 5 and 7 seem particularly uncommon. But since I don't focus on FH, I don't know for sure. Hopefully, a FH collector will weigh in.

[RareHighGrade]

Of course as Yogi might say- The toughest ones are the ones you cannot find.....Jon

Ain't that the truth!

[tth2]

As for Fiction house I think its fair to say that Jumbo 3-7 are the 5 rarest in no particular order.

As for Fiction House, I would agree with you based on my personal experience. Nos. 5 and 7 seem particularly uncommon. But since I don't focus on FH, I don't know for sure. Hopefully, a FH collector will weigh in.

I don't think the early Jumbos are that rare. I was at some guy's house a few years ago and he had all of those issues. They were even nice and shiny looking for the mintophiles among us, except for that irritating writing in pencil on the covers.

 

[RareHighGrade]

[Blind Owl]

I will chime in on the 5 rarest Centaurs (IMO, likely 5 or so known copies)

 

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

 

No way on the FP 1.6. I personally have owned 3 different copies. #s 40 and 41 are much scarcer.

 

 

 

I have never seen one for sale... have seen at least 2 #41's and 1 #40 and I know where several copies are, so from my perspective, it is tougher...though, I agree that the 40 and 41 are 100x more desirable (thumbs u

 

And what about Keen Komics #1??? I know of three copies for sure, and heard about a forth some where down the line!!!! But that's it!!! How many copies do you know about!!!

 

 

[Crowzilla]

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

 

 

Comics Magazine #3 always seemed tough as well as Detective Picture Stories #4.

Those superhero books get all the attention though...

 

 

 

[Yannis]

All of these pics on here Ive seen so far are rare books (double action, Adventures 26, 27 (come to think of it- most of the early ones up to issue 40 are getting really hard to find), Detective 3) , maybe Detective 2 should be here too. Detective 22 doesnt pop up at all any more. Actions 7 and 10 are getting almost impossible too. Well most of the very early DC titles are not easily available any more.

 

As for Timelys, Marvel Mystery 2, Mystic comics 2 , 4, Daring Mystery 4, and maybe Red Raven comics ( I barely seen it around), USA comics 2-5 maybe (well I dont see them that often any more), maybe a # 2 some months ago but thats it.

[sfcityduck]

Isn't there a difference between a book being "rare" and a book being "sought after" and "collected"?

 

I suspect that some of the books folks think of as "rare" because they don't see them on the marketplace are really more plentiful than a lot of other GA books, but are much more sought after and are more likely to be tucked away in many more collections.

[Blind Owl]

I agree with this statement 100%. An example would be Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 n5 which is in demand so much that no one ever sells their copies.

 

Although I don't think it's common I believe over the years that I've seen at least 15 different copies (yeah that's not a lot, but this discussion is about rare books), and I'd guess at least twice that amount exists.

 

Other books mentioned earlier like a few of those Actions, and Detectives (#40 and earlier were mentioned), are out there for sure. They are just not up for sale because of all the multitudes of DC collectors out there. While there are a few really rare ones (Tec #9, Action #7 etc.) most would be in the hundreds of copies in my opinion (not that rare).

 

Great subjuct matter, would love to hear counterpoints!!!

[G.A.tor]

I will chime in on the 5 rarest Centaurs (IMO, likely 5 or so known copies)

 

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

Thanks Rick. Are you saying that you believe there are less than 5 copies of each of those issues in existence or just that you are personally aware of only 5?

 

Which of them do you have?

unfortunately, I have none of the above...and trust me, I have tried!

 

naturally, I cannot say with any certainty how many copies exist...but, in talking with fellow centaur collectors, these are certainly "rare"...for all of the above, I probably only know of 3-5 copies where abouts, but I suspect there has to be more out there, just have not surfaced yet

 

 

[G.A.tor]

I will chime in on the 5 rarest Centaurs (IMO, likely 5 or so known copies)

 

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

 

No way on the FP 1.6. I personally have owned 3 different copies. #s 40 and 41 are much scarcer.

 

 

 

I have never seen one for sale... have seen at least 2 #41's and 1 #40 and I know where several copies are, so from my perspective, it is tougher...though, I agree that the 40 and 41 are 100x more desirable (thumbs u

 

And what about Keen Komics #1??? I know of three copies for sure, and heard about a forth some where down the line!!!! But that's it!!! How many copies do you know about!!!

 

very true, keen komics #1 is very rare too... I guess because I have a copy, and know of a few others, it didn't jump into "my" top 5, but excellent example!

[G.A.tor]

Keen Detective Funny v1/10

Amazing Man #25

Amazing man #26

Funny Pages v1/6

Amazing Mystery Funnies v2/4 (really, any of the first 6 v 2 issues, or even 1/4)

 

 

Comics Magazine #3 always seemed tough as well as Detective Picture Stories #4.

Those superhero books get all the attention though...

 

 

absolutely correct, again!

I got lucky on both accounts... was able to buy the Lost Valley copies of CM 2-5, and I got my DPS 1-5 in one auction of "old magazines" on ebay (they didn't even list the few comics, I just happened to notice them)...so, because I never had to actively search for them, I have not paid attention to their scarcity...

[Blind Owl]

I was thinking it would be nice if Centaurman could tell us his thoughts on this subject!!!

 

He might not want to reveal his findings however until he completes his Centaur run!!!

 

But we already know pretty much whats rare, so he might as well chip in!!!

[G.A.tor]

I was thinking it would be nice if Centaurman could tell us his thoughts on this subject!!!

 

He might not want to reveal his findings however until he completes his Centaur run!!!

 

But we already know pretty much whats rare, so he might as well chip in!!!

actually, win has already given us his "windex" on most of the major Centaur titles (just scan the centaur thread)... I know he agrees with me on a couple (KDF 1/10 and AMan 26)...not sure on the rest, as he has copies

[143ksk]

No one has any lists to offer? I figured that 143k would chime in on MLJs, Nearmint on Nedors, and Bedrock and Parker on Timelys. And what about Fiction House? No updated opinions?

 

I haven't chimed in because I don't think there really are any rare MLJs--at least not at the level we are discussing here. In my experience the toughest Archie books to find are Pep 26, Pep 22, Pep 42, Pep 34 and Pep 41. I think the rarest Peps are probably 42-48. The earlier ones are just more likely to be locked up in people's collections rather than truly rare.

[Blind Owl]

Has he ever done an AMF, Star & Star Ranger scarcity index???

 

 

Last time I heard I didn't think he was ready to share the AMF windex yet!!! Has he completed that run?

 

 

hm hm hm hm hm hm hm hm hm hm hm

[G.A.tor]

AMF is an "easy" one...

the toughest books are :

1/4

2/1-2/6

24

rest are fairly "easy" by comparison